Back to 2nd Battalion News
Tropic Lightning News - 15 February 2001
 Photo(s) by SGT Lauren Reader Spc. Brian Wedman, Co. C, 2nd Bn., 27th Inf. Rgt. team leader, practices maneuvering in skis, preparing him for the snowy conditions in Japan.  Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Hughs, instructor for the Cold Weather Leader Course in Fairbanks, Alaska helps Cpl. Christopher Barr, Co. B, 2nd Bn., 27th Inf. Rgt. team leader, pull up the side of the tent during cold weather senior leader training Feb.  (From Left to Right) Sgt. Donnell Richard, HHC, 2nd Bn., 27th Inf. food service sergeant, Pvt. 2 Dale Pettay, HHC, 2nd Bn., 27th Inf., mortar firer, and Pfc. Jose Santiago, HHC, 2nd Bn., 27th Inf., food service specialist warm their hands before going back to work. The Soldiers are in Hokkaido, Japan as part of Northwind 01, which began Saturday. | Soldiers prepare for Northwind deployment By SGT Lauren Reader To prepare for their cold weather deployment, senior leaders of 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment received training from Cold Weather Leader Course instructors Feb. 7. The CWLC instructors came from Fairbanks, Alaska with the sole purpose of making sure the leaders learn how to prepare their Soldiers for cold weather conditions. The Soldiers were preparing for Northwind 01, a bilateral field-training exercise in Japan where they will need to put what they learn to the test. One of the Alaska instructors, Staff Sgt. Paul Whitney, said, "There are three major things that Soldiers need to take care of before they are in a cold weather environment -- proper clothing, equipment and planning -- it will save their lives. In Hawaii, if Soldiers get a sunburn it’s not that big of a deal, but if they get frost bite, it’ll stay with them forever." During the training, Whitney and the other instructors made themselves available for questions and more training techniques. "We’re training the leaders first, who will then go back and train their Soldiers," said Staff Sgt. Kenneth Deaner, section leader and cold weather NCOIC for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Bn., 27th Inf. Rgt. Senior Soldiers moved through the stations including familiarization with skis, walking in snow shoes and a tent stove drill. Deaner was one of eight Soldiers from the unit to attend the week-long training course in Alaska. "We learned types of survival for extreme cold weather. It makes you trust your military gear more, especially the bacalava and neck gaiter," said Deaner. The Soldiers will be in Japan for three weeks and they plan on spending at least one night out in the cold. "I feel confidant that once we train the leaders and the training trickles down to the Joes that they will be able to deal with the cold. Our job is to convince them that even though it’ll be cold they’re not going to die. We’re going to make sure nobody comes back with any cold weather injuries," Deaner said. |
